Thursday, January 29, 2009

What a jam-packed week it's been! Australia Day, organising back to school things, getting ready for Kindy... it's been one thing after the other! You may need to grab a cuppa because this might be a big one...

We spent the weekend at home covering school books. (Sooo glad that job is over!! YUK) Well ok it didn't take all weekend but it still seemed to take ages! Ayden finally mastered tying his shoe laces just in time for school. So proud of him!!! It only took him a couple of days and there he was doing it all by himself. (Last year in Prep he had velcro school shoes.)

Monday was Australia Day. We had planned on taking the kids out somewhere, but with the weather being so unpredictable we decided to head on up to Mum & Dad's place instead. The kids practically spent all day in the pool and loved every second. Riley and Ayden are getting so confident in the water lately... can't swim properly just yet but they're not far off! It was the first time Madi was brave enough to get in as well. Usually she just wanders around the edge too nervous to get wet but we found it hard to get her out! Even Nanna got in to cool off... Madi thought that was great!

Tuesday was back to school for Ayden. As soon as he got into the classroom and found his friends he was straight back into the swing of it all. He had a great day, likes his new teacher, and came home with lots of drawings and things to show us. So glad he enjoys going to school!

Wednesday Mel and Liv came for a visit. Always love it when they pop around! Madi and Liv played while Mel and I caught up. Then that afternoon I got a lovely surprise when a parcel arrived in my letterbox...the RAK that I won on Lea's blog last week from her 100th blog post! Just look at these gorgeous goodies she sent me... love it all!!!!! (Thanks again Lea! Just can't bring myself to use any of it yet... still looking at it! Hee hee hee)

That brings us to today - Thursday. It was a HUGE day for Riley today... and I have to say I'm so very proud of this little man! It was his very first day of Kindy!!

He was SO excited and such a good boy when I dropped him off this morning. He remembered where everything was from our orientation day last year. He put his bag in his little cubby hole, put his drink and lunch where it's supposed to go and headed straight for the train set on the carpet to play. I was waiting for the tears when I said I was going but he was totally fine... gave me a kiss and cuddle and said 'Bye Mum! Come and pick me up later!' as he headed to the puzzle table. What a relief!!! He's never been left anywhere on his own without his brother or sister and I'm amazed at how it all went. When I picked him up this afternoon he got all excited to see me but then his smile changed to dropping his lip... on the verge of tears. His teacher said he did have a good day but he's not used to the whole routine yet... he'll get there. He did proudly show me the painting he'd done though and couldn't wait to show Ayden and Daddy! He says he's going to do some more tomorrow. (Something tells me that tomorrow's drop-off won't be quite as easy... we'll see...)

I did squeeze in a layout during the week as well. I've been trying to scrap some of my older photos. I've had this one sitting around with this paper for AGES! It's not a paper I'd normally reach for but I thought it suited the pic. (It's actually quite glittery too but doesn't show up in the scan).... So I used it along with some other older alphas and things. Feels good to use up old supplies! Madi was only a week old in this photo...it's one of my faves.

The journalling reads... 'We were sitting in the waiting room at the Doctor's surgery awaiting our name to be called when a lovely old lady walking by stopped and looked down at you sleeping so peacefully in your pram. A smile spread across her face and all she said was "Just look at that perfection!" I couldn't have said it better myself. Love you baby girl! Mummy xoxo'

Looking at that photo I can't believe Madi's about to turn 2 years old on Saturday! Wow she's grown up so much...

By the way... I'm thinking of all of you girls down there in that 40+ degree heat (especially you Lea with less than 3 wks to go until bubby arrives)!!! Hope you're all managing to stay cool... and that the temp goes down soon. It must be unbearable!!!! Take care and keep those air conditioners cranking!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Well you'd never know that Riley was in hospital having that procedure done on Monday! He's been his normal playful, funny self thank goodness. Thank you so much for all your lovely comments! We still can't believe how brave he was...

I've got one lonely little layout to share with you today. It's one I just scrapped for myself... and I found it quite a challenge working with papers that were so pale in colour since I'm so used to scrapping much brighter patterns. I think I like the outcome... still deciding! LOL

I've been working on some other things... but nothing I can share just yet...

With everything going on here lately, in my last couple of posts I totally forgot to include a blog award I received from a lovely lady - Marisa!

This is called The Proximity Award."These blogs invest and believe in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Thank you so very much Marisa! So now I'm going to pass this award on to these fantastic, creative gals...

Oops... is that ten names instead of eight? Oh well... just can't narrow it down any further! LOL Every one of these girls are awesome!

I guess that's it from me today. The kids are nagging me for some lunch already... you'd think they never get fed!

Have a great Thursday!

Sheree xx

PS. Kylie if you're reading this, you asked if I was going to be doing some classes again at Sunbird in February. I'm happy to say that I will be! I don't have your e-mail address but if you'd like to e-mail me at shereeforcier@tpg.com.au I can fill you in on the details! :)

Monday, January 19, 2009

Today was a pretty big day for us here... a day we've been dreading for a while. Our little man (Riley) had to go to hospital to have some dental work done. We've been so very worried about him having to go under general anaesthetic... he's never had to have it before, and being only 4 years old we had no idea how he'd handle it...but I'm happy to say he did an amazing job and we're so incredibly proud of him! (Sorry if I ramble on but I really want to record the story of today...)We had taken Riley to the dentist at the end of last year as he had a hole in his back tooth that was bothering him. (Yep... we felt like terrible parents...we did brush his teeth!) The dentist discovered that all the enamel hadn't developed properly on all of his back teeth so he was extremely susceptible to decay. (Apparently any illnesses he may have had when his teeth were developing in the gums when he was a baby could have caused this... and he did have chickenpox when he was 6 months old... it's all we can put it down to.) So anyway as a result the only way to save his tooth was to put him into hospital to have a root canal done and a metal crown put onto his tooth along with applying protection to the other affected teeth.

Well today was the day. Paul and Riley left home very early this morning and headed into Brisbane to the hospital. He had to fast, so couldn't have breakfast. They got there at 6.30am as requested and was supposed to go in at around 8am. There were a few delays and he actually didn't get seen until around 11.30am or so. Needless to say the poor little thing was starving by this stage!!! But Paul said he was soooo good. (Kept asking if he could have lunch though...) When it finally came time to go in he was great! He sat up on the bed and listened to the doctor, watched some "Happy Feet" that was playing on the tv, and when it came time for the gas he handled it really well. The doctor told him it smelled like lollies (LOL) and asked them if he like lollies... well of course he said he did... "and I also like chocolate!" and that was the last thing he said before he fell asleep. He came through the whole procedure with flying colours and no complications... and thankfully they were able to save his tooth. When he came to in recovery he didn't cry... not even a bit! The nurse came and got Paul and all he wanted was to play with his new Star Wars lego that we bought him for being such a brave boy. He had something to eat... was halfway through eating it and suddenly fell back to sleep! He slept for a few hours after that...and when he woke up again and got the all clear it was time to come home.

He ran through the door tonight proudly displaying his "Star Patient" sticker and showing me his new 'robot tooth'! He had a look for the first time in the mirror and thought his new metal robot tooth looks pretty cool. I am truly amazed at how wonderful he was today...we're so unbelievably proud of him! And we're so relieved that now it's done... and he won't be in any more pain with that tooth!

Well... all the kids are snuggled up in bed sound asleep so I'm off to enjoy a nice cuppa with Paul...maybe with some chocolate...and watch some tv. Have a great evening!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

It's such a gorgeous day here today! The sun is shining, there's a lovely light breeze flowing through the house... a perfect school holiday day! I'm really enjoying having Ayden home everyday... and so is Riley & Madi! They really do have so much fun playing together. The boys are right into Lego at the moment and building all sorts of things to play with... and I have to say the Playstation they got for Christmas has been getting a huge workout! Madi on the other hand has discovered her tea sets. Needless to say I've had enough 'cups of tea' to fill a swimming pool over the last few weeks. LOL! And anyone who comes to visit LOOK OUT!!! Her tea pot is always at the ready!We had a bit of a scare the other day... we got broken into!!! I went out the front the other morning to find that our garage door was open. At first we thought that maybe Paul had left it open the night before by accident... it didn't look like anything was taken, however it was scary to think that anyone could've just walked on into the house. But then Paul found his car doors open, everything inside the car had been opened and the garage door remote was stolen!!!!! It looks like all they took was the remote, however that was such a frightening thought! Luckily Paul's been able to recode the garage door so the remote they stole will no longer work. and annoying that we now have to buy a new remote. I guess we should be thankful that's all that happened... it's the first time anything like that has happened to us. Still freaky though....

On a lighter note I've got a few layouts to share today. This one is appearing in the current issue of Scrapbook Creations...

And here's a couple of pages from before Christmas that I forgot to post. They were my two example layouts from my last Scrap-a-Sketch class for 2008 at Sunbird Scrapbooking. The one of Madi just cracks me up! When she found those Mr Potato Head glasses she just had to put them on! Too funny, and oh so stylish!

Has anyone else been checking out the new CHA product releases around the place? There are so many gorgeous new things coming out. How on earth is a girl to choose what to buy? LOL! Can't wait until it all finally hits our stores. So far I've seen some American Crafts and Chatterbox stuff I'm going to add to my wish list...

Well that's it from me today! I've got a little girl tugging at my leg apparently in desperate need of a drink! LOL! Enjoy the rest of your week!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Ok...so I've been neglecting my blog lately...you know how it is though! It's been a busy, fun few weeks with Christmas and New Year celebrations! Time for a bit of an update though I think...

I'll get my scrapping out of the way first... haven't done much in the lead up to Christmas with everything else going on, but last week I sat down and scrapped this page. I've had this photo and papers sitting around for AGES to do... and it's the first thing I've scrapped just for myself in a LONG time.

Here's a couple of close-up pics...So that was my last layout for 2008! I've been busy scrapping my first 2009 layout last night but can't share just yet...

I guess I can also share a few pics of some of the handmade gifts I gave some friends for Christmas (now that they have them!). I made these journal covers (Janelle's gorgeous pattern) with matching fabric baskets (you can find that pattern here)...

I also made some of these little denim needle holders. They were pretty easy. I just made up my own pattern and cut out some little felt designs and handstitched them on. (These were the first ones I made...)

Now about our Christmas. I'll keep it fairly brief since it's already been and gone... We spent Christmas Eve at my Mum & Dad's place. (Paul had to work nightshift but he arrived on Christmas morning at about 9.30 or so - bummer that he missed the present opening though...) The kids couldn't believe their eyes and had so much fun unwrapping all their presents. Ayden's fave was his new scooter and Playstation 2, Riley's was definately the Playstation 2 & Lego Batman game, and Madi's faves were her Rescue Pet Puppy, her dancing Dora and her new bike!!! They got so much stuff (must've been REALLY good kids last year! LOL)... it was lucky that we had two cars to take everything back home in!

Paul was pretty stoked about his iPhone docking station. He also got a couple of new caps, a set-top box and a few other things.

I felt totally spoiled when I opened my beautiful Pandora bracelet from my Mum & Dad (LOVE it!) and Paul and the kids gave me a new Cuttlebug!!! (YIPPEE!!!) Also got some embossing folders to get me started and a few other great things.... (Now I'm all inspired to make some cards... hee hee hee)

We ate way too much food for lunch and then headed over to one of my brother's houses for a nice relaxed afternoon. It was so nice to have all the family there together!

Boxing day we spent and Mum & Dad's place. The kids had a ball in the pool with Paul, Dad watched the Boxing day cricket on tv (sometimes through his eyelids... hee hee hee) and we all just cruised around and relaxed. It was great!

Paul had to work nightshift again on New Year's Eve (bummer again) but my parents came to stay at our place for the night and we saw the new year in together watching the fireworks on tv while eating too much chocolate and junk food. (Which reminds me... I really need to start exercising more! LOL)

The kids have really enjoyed the school holidays so far. Lots of Playstation, trips to the skate park with their scooters, visits to Nanna & Grandpa's place and they saw "Bolt" at the movies just the other day which they loved. I can't believe there's only a few weeks left until school starts again! I think we'll be heading to the shops tomorrow for some school shoes....

So I think that's about it for now. Hope 2009 has been nice to you so far! Better go round up my rowdy kids in the loungeroom...